Elevator shaft door



Jan. 6, 1953 J. A. SCHWEIG ELEVATOR SHAFT nooa 2 SHEETS--SHEET 1 FiledMarch 27, 1947 g INV ENTOR.

. HIS ATTORNEYS.

J. A. SCHWEIG ELEVATOR SHAFT DOOR Jan. 6, 1953 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 FiledMarch 2'7, 1947 g x l I l /t l l 1 1 l l I l ll ll m a W O I 'IIII\ l/ fIII v E \LR. I

Iv 2 8v L z FIGS.

HIS ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 6, 1953 .'-'This inventionrelates-tos-elevator shaft doorsrof the kind wherein-two Nertically sliding *door H-sections areconnected by =-counterbalanci-ng chains forsimultaneousw-movementtowards and. away'f-rom each other-to close-andopen-the door space; and the lower door section is --provided with. r alatching device which prevents -joint opening movement of bothdoor-sections but does not pre- :-:-vent the upper: doorsection--frombeing-opened independentlyof-'= the positively locked lower doorsection. 'The'presentinvention has for its; -principal=objects toprovide a-separate latching device for the upper-doorsection; 'tproVide-mean cOn trolled by the lower door section for engaging-saidlatchingdevice and for releasing -said latching means when the lowerdoorsectionstarts;toopen; andto provide when thelower doorsectiorrclosesfor-simplicity and cheapness ;of-;constructi on and compactness-oidesign.

The invention consists in -the elevatorgpshaft doorconstructionandin'the parts and combinations and-arrangements 'of partsheIinaiter de-- scribed and; claimed.

In the accompanying drawings; hich iorm part'oi this specification; andwhereinj'like; symz o s 'to like parts wh r v t i r occur,

Fig. l is a shaftside elevational view" vator shaft door constructionempody l ng my in ---;vention, M

"Fi 2 s an ars dyt eamsni r haft sid elevati n l ii t are io if;illeloslsi a $1 -vice,

Fig; 3 is averticalsectional'y-iew on the line 3+3 in Fig.2,

:"f-E s 5 c a V i.- m.- l r., t F -:2; sh win a modifiedform of theinventionpand P a-6 is oriz ntal c i na .Yiew-pnthel n 6+6 in'lfig. 5.

"In the accompanying drawin s, my; invention is shown embodied in ayertical'sliding, eenterp in t anced? q constr ctio in u d i c osi a hedo r spaceorp e mo in a el v t r. shaft; e d o r. so i tmetio mp es vrtica l slidin l p-p r. a d. w rdop s c on and Mesnecfiveln. eaohn vdedzalon each v r c l e e with. mang e. har .s s a l, 3 7 h vi g. an uta din flange s s ati y. arrange between an upright double angle bar doorguide 4 rigidly secured to" the adjacentjamb member of the door frame. Aguide-shoe 6 is fixed-to the outstanding flange 'ofthe angle-bar siderail 3 and straddles one fiange of thedoubleangle bar door guide 4.

chweigsfllay om tM ,-a s gn r:,-to S e nan ast- Lou a of- Missouripplicat ion lvlarch 27, 1M7 Serial No: 737,581

Theupper and lower-door-sections .'l and Z-are ecounterbalanced by meansof-schains I that are connected, as at 8; to thelower cornersvof theupper'door section. The chains [extend up- :wardly around. sheavesbardoor guides 4 and 9 mounted on-the angle thencedownwardly. in :thedirection of the lowerdoorsection 2 where they are connected to theupperends of upright chain beyond the side edges of .rods Ill Whoselower ends are secured to the outer ends of door arms II that projecthorizontally said lower door-sections.

Byithis arrangement, each door section acts as a w counterbalancefor-the other door section-,where- .-.-down:on --thelower door section 2or by pushing thedoor may be-easi1y opened by vpushing up on the upperdoorsection I.

iThe door is. provided witha. latching device comprising an operatinglever. i'Z Which is pivotally mounted on the shaft side of the. lowerdoor section 2-,-and-oppositely extendinghorizontal latch bars-|3-pivotally=connected-at their inner a-ends'to the: respective upperand lower arms of said operating lover. The latch bars|3 are slidablysupported on the ange tached at --one= end :to one -of--the arms ofthelower doorsection 2-for sliding movement into and out of engagementwith-suitable catches 1 M -fixed to the-double anglebar door guides 4.-A-coil spring 15 is atclever l2 and at its other endto a'lug -15 on theshaft side of the-lower doorsection 2', the parts --.,-being.arranged-so-that the springtends to prouject --the-latchtbars intolatching position.

rflromvthe construction thus far described'it .i-willibeseen that the.latching device on the lower 1;:doorv section- -,prevents both 1 door- Isections from .opening in unison; but said devicedoes not prevent theupper door section from being opened --independentlyoi the locked lowerdoo-risectionby ;-li-fting -.the;;dead weight of the-upper door section.

l-Inorder to prevent the upper door section from nbei-ng separatelyopenedwhen both sections are "locked against joint opening movement,theupper door section is provided: with a separate latching imechanismthat will'positively lock the upper doorssection. when the lower doorsection closes and will unlock the-upperdoor section when the ..lo.werdoorsection opens.

" The separate automatic latching device for the oupper door section 2comprises an upright latch -ba1 -door guide t-for verticalswingingmovementz lever I1 .pivotally supported onone-or each angle towards andaway from the projecting portionof the:- door arm 'I l --on the-adjacentupper corner of othelower: door section -l and the projecting por- :tionof a door-plate lii that is; secured -flatwise to the shaft side of saidupper door section and extends horizontally beyond the side edge thereofnear the lower corner thereof. The upright latch lever I! is rotatablysupported intermediate between its upper and lower ends on a horizontalpivot stud 19 that is fixed to one flange of an upright angle bar 26,which flange is secured by bolts 2| to the outstanding flanges of thedouble angle bar door guide 4. The upper arm of the latch lever I!terminates in a detent which is part of the lever. The detent, in thisform, is a hook-shaped upper end portion 22 adapted to overhang the doorplate IS on the upper door section, and the lower arm of said leverterminates in a cam surface 23 that inclines downwardly and outwardlyaway from the opposing face of the door arm I I of the lower doorsection. A coil compression spring 24 is sleeved on a horizontal pin 25fixed to the angle bar 26 with one end seating thereagainst and with theother end seating against the lower arm of the latch lever H.- Thespring 24 serves to swing the cam-shaped lower arm of the latch levertowards the door arm H of the lower door section and the detent orhooked upper end 22 of said lever clear of the door plate 48 on theupper door section.

When the door is closed, the door arm ll of the lower door sectionengages the cam surface 23 on the lower arm of the latch lever H andthus swings the fixed detent or hooked upper end 22 of said lever overthe door plate 18 on the upper door section, thereby preventing theupper door section from being opened when the lower door section isclosed' As shown in the drawings, thehook portion 22 of the latch leverll is spaced above the plate It on the upperdoor section in the fullyclosed position of the lower door section so as to permit openingmovement of the upper door section with the lower door section until thelower door section has moved downwardly far enough to release the lowerarm of the latch lever and permit the hooked upper end thereof to swingclear of the plate on the upper door section.

By the arrangement described, the upper door section is automaticallylocked when the lower door section is locked by means 12, I3 and M. Theconventional latching device on the lower door section preventssimultaneous opening movement of the upper and lower door sections. Atthe same time, the separate latching means for the upper door sectionprevents said section from beingopened independently of the closed lowerdoor section. The latching device for the upper door section is moved tolockingposition by the closing movement of the lower doorsection; andthe upper door latching device is moved by the spring 24 to unlockingposition when the lower door section starts its opening movement.

In the modified form of my invention illustrated in Figs. and 6, thelatching mechanism for the upper door section [comprises a detent in theform of a separate bolt 26 that is mounted for axial sliding movement ina plate 21 that is secured by means of bolts 23 to the outstandingflange of the double angle bar door guide 4. The detent or bolt 26 isslidable crosswise of the double angle bar door guide 4 and is adaptedto move into and out of a detent abutment, which. is, in this case, thepath of movement of the guide shoe 6 fixed to the angle bar side rail 3of the upper door section,

The bolt 26 is reciprocated by means of a bell crank lever that ispivotally secured, as at 30, to the plate 21 for vertical swingingmovement towards and away from the outstanding flange of 4 the doubleangle bar door guide 4. One arm of the bell crank lever 29 extendsupwardly and terminates in a bifurcated or forked upper end portion 3|that straddles a transversely grooved portion 32 of the bolt 26. Theother arm of the lever 29 terminates in a bifurcated or forked end"portion 33 that straddles the vertical chain rod the chain rod [0. Inthe closed osition of the upper and lower door section, the underside ofthe chain rod engaging arm of the bolt operating lever 29 is engaged bya coil compression spring 34 which swings said lever in a direction thatwill slide the bolt 26 across the top of the guide shoe 6 on the upperdoor section and thus prevent the latter from being opened. The spring34 is sleeved on I0 and seats on the upper end of a sleeve that is alsosleeved on said rod and seats on the door arm II ofthe lower doorsection. A

coil compression spring 35 is also interposed between the bolt engagingarm of the lever 29 and the supporting plate 2'! therefor and has oneend supported on a lug 36 on said arm and the other end supported on'alug 31 on said plate.

When the door of the modified construction is closed, thecoil spring 34on the chain rod 10 of the lower door section 2 urges the bell cranklever 29 in a direction that will slide the bolt 26 over the guide shoe6 of the upper door section I, thereby preventing the upper door sectionfrom ously, the spring 34 moves downwardly with the lower door section,thus permitting the spring 35 35 to rock the lever 29 in a directionwhich will withdraw the bolt 26 from'the path of movement of the guideshoe .6 of the upper door section I and thus permit the latter to open.The bolt 26 moves to locking position after the guide shoe 6 of theupper door section moves downwardly below the level of said bolt. In thefully closed position of the door, the guide shoe 6 of the upper doorsection is spaced below the bolt 26 so as to permit opening movement ofsaid upper door section with the lower door section until the latter hasopened far enough to permit the lever 29 to withdraw the bolt 26.

Obviously, the hereinbefore described elevator shaft door constructionadmits of considerable modification without departing from the inven:tion. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the precise arrangementsshown and described.

What I claim is:

1. In a door construction comprising counterbalanced upper and lowerdoor sections slidable vertically in opposite directions to open andclose in unison and means for manually locking the lower door section inclosed position, the combination therewith of a latch plate on saidupper door section, an arm on said lower door section, a latch lever, acam on said lever engaged by said arm upon, the vertical slidingmovement of said lower door section to closed position, a hooked detentformed at one end of said latch lever and movable therewith from anormal retracted position into a position engaging said latch plate forlocking the upper door section in closed position, and spring meansacting on said lever in response to the vertical sliding openingmovement of the lower door section and arm away from said cam for movingthe lever and return said hooked detent to normal retracted position outof the path of movement of said latch plate while the door sections areout of closed position, said hooked detent being actuated by said camand arm into locking position substantially simultaneously with thesliding movement of both upper and lower door sections into closedposition in unison.

2. In a door construction comprising counterbalanced upper and lowerdoor sections movable vertically in opposite directions to open andclose in unison and means for locking said lower door section in closedposition, the combination of separate means for locking the upper doorsection in closed position, said separate locking means comprising anabutment rigid with the upper door section, a horizontally pivoted latchlever, a hooked detent at one end of said lever, a cam surface on saidlatch lever at the other side of the pivot from said hooked detent, armmeans on the lower door section moved, when the lower door sectionapproaches its closed position, to engage said cam surface of said leverand pivot said lever to move said hooked detent into the path of travelof said abutment on the upper door 2 section, and spring means forpivoting said latch REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,173,129 Taliaferro Feb. 22,1916 1,379,537 Davis May 24, 1921 0 1,509,679 Fischer Sept. 23, 19242,323,358 Shannon et al July 6, 1943

